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The Worst Episodes of The X-Files

Every episode of The X-Files ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of The X-Files!

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The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    The X-Files Season 3 Episode 18 - Teso Dos Bichos
    5.9/10(4652 votes)

    #1 - Teso Dos Bichos

    S3:E18

    The unearthing of an ancient Ecuadorian Amaru urn and its removal to America despite protests leads to a series of deaths linked to a shaman spirit released by the urn.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:John Shiban

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  2. The X-Files Season 7 Episode 20 - Fight Club
    5.9/10(3723 votes)

    #2 - Fight Club

    S7:E20

    Mulder and Scully cross paths with two women who are identical and have followed each other across 17 states in the last three years, causing chaos and mayhem wherever they are.

    Director:Paul Shapiro
    Writer:Chris Carter

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  3. The X-Files Season 7 Episode 13 - First Person Shooter
    6.0/10(4305 votes)

    #3 - First Person Shooter

    S7:E13

    The Lone Gunmen call Mulder and Scully to a virtual reality development lab where they learn that one of the program testers was killed inside the computer generated game environment by the digital image of a woman. Needing to get his yah-yah's, Mulder enters the game to fight the woman, but Scully must step in to save him.

    Director:Chris Carter
    Writers:William Gibson, Tom Maddox

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  4. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 20 - The Truth (2)
    6.1/10(8 votes)

    #4 - The Truth (2)

    S9:E20

    When an unexpected person comes to Mulder's rescue, Mulder refuses to slip north over the border to safety. Instead, he heads southwest to the Anasazi ruins of New Mexico seeking a mysterious wise man who the Indians call "The Keeper of the Truth".

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Chris Carter

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  5. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 9 - Space
    6.2/10(7442 votes)

    #5 - Space

    S1:E9

    Mulder and Scully are contacted by a communications specialist from NASA who shows them evidence of sabotage in the space programme.

    Director:William A. Graham
    Writer:Chris Carter

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  6. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 7 - 3
    6.3/10(5976 votes)

    #6 - 3

    S2:E7

    Mulder, back on the X-Files but alone for the first time, investigates a series of vampire-like murders in Los Angeles and finds himself falling for the one woman that may be the prime suspect.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writers:James Wong, Glen Morgan, Chris Ruppenthal

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  7. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 18 - Fearful Symmetry
    6.4/10(5220 votes)

    #7 - Fearful Symmetry

    S2:E18

    In a small town in Idaho, a man is killed by what seems to be an invisible elephant. Mulder's investigation into the local zoo, its owners and a local animal rights group uncovers evidence of insidious alien experiments.

    Director:James Whitmore Jr.
    Writer:Steve De Jarnatt

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  8. The X-Files Season 6 Episode 16 - Alpha
    6.4/10(3721 votes)

    #8 - Alpha

    S6:E16

    A mysterious dog thought to be the last of a rare Asian breed is responsible for several murders which Mulder and Scully are investigating. Now the agents have to find a way to stop the dog before it kills again.

    Director:Peter Markle
    Writer:Jeffrey Bell

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  9. The X-Files Season 10 Episode 5 - Babylon
    6.4/10(6000 votes)

    #9 - Babylon

    S10:E5

    Scully and Mulder investigate when an art gallery displaying offensive artwork is bombed, and need to discover a way to communicate with the comatose perpetrator to try and prevent a future attack.

    Director:Chris Carter
    Writer:Chris Carter

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  10. The X-Files Season 11 Episode 1 - My Struggle III
    6.4/10(4514 votes)

    #10 - My Struggle III

    S11:E1

    Mulder and Scully learn that they aren't the only ones desperately searching for their long-lost son, William. The very fate of the world may depend on it.

    Director:Chris Carter
    Writer:Chris Carter

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  11. The X-Files Season 7 Episode 9 - Signs and Wonders
    6.5/10(3473 votes)

    #11 - Signs and Wonders

    S7:E9

    Snakes are killing the unrighteous, but Mulder and Scully doubt that this is a case of divine intervention.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Jeffrey Bell

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  12. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 1 - Nothing Important Happened Today (1)
    6.5/10(34 votes)

    #12 - Nothing Important Happened Today (1)

    S9:E1

    Agent Doggett investigates the death of an EPA official after his car is forced off a bridge by a woman he picked up. He asks for assistance on the case from Scully, who has returned to her teaching position at the FBI Academy in Quantico.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writers:Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

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  13. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 8 - Hellbound
    6.5/10(29 votes)

    #13 - Hellbound

    S9:E8

    Agent Reyes takes the lead while investigating an X-file case, surrounding a man found skinned alive after having visions of seeing other people appearing skinned alive. Reyes calls on Scully's expertise to help on the investigation, which pays off when Scully finds a link to a case from 1960.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:David Amann

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  14. The X-Files Season 4 Episode 3 - Teliko
    6.6/10(4508 votes)

    #14 - Teliko

    S4:E3

    After several African-American men are killed and the color is drained from their skin, Mulder learns about the Teliko, an African folktale about a creature who must suck the pigmentation from a persons body in order to survive.

    Director:Jim Charleston
    Writer:Howard Gordon

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  15. The X-Files Season 4 Episode 5 - The Field Where I Died
    6.6/10(5223 votes)

    #15 - The Field Where I Died

    S4:E5

    After an FBI raid on a doomsday cult called the "Temple of the Seven Stars", Mulder meets Melissa, a cultist who claims to have known him in a previous life during the American Civil War. Scully believes the woman is a delusional schizophrenic, but Mulder allows himself to be drawn into her fantasies.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writers:James Wong, Glen Morgan

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  16. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 9 - Provenance (1)
    6.6/10(32 votes)

    #16 - Provenance (1)

    S9:E9

    When pieces of the spaceship beached in Africa resurface, the conspiracy within the FBI attempts to hide the information from the X-Files, especially the one person for whom the pieces have a special significance - Scully. When Doggett and Reyes discover that Scully and her child have been put in great danger, they race to protect her and William from the evil forces pursuing him, and Scully is forced to take drastic measures to protect her child.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writers:Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

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  17. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 12 - Underneath
    6.6/10(30 votes)

    #17 - Underneath

    S9:E12

    Scully, Doggett and Reyes investigate an old case that Doggett worked on as a cop in Brooklyn, dubbed "The Screwdriver Killer". They try to determine whether the man who was convicted and has just been released from prison was actually the man responsible for the murders.

    Director:John Shiban
    Writer:John Shiban

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  18. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 13 - Improbable
    6.6/10(30 votes)

    #18 - Improbable

    S9:E13

    When Reyes uses numerology to connect the murders of several women to an obsessed serial killer, she and Scully become trapped with a mysterious checker-playing man who may or may not be the killer.

    Director:Chris Carter
    Writer:Chris Carter

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  19. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 15 - Jump the Shark
    6.6/10(30 votes)

    #19 - Jump the Shark

    S9:E15

    The agents ask the Lone Gunmen to help find their friendly foe Yves Adele Harlow after former Area 51 Man-In-Black Morris Fletcher claims she is one of the super-soldiers.

    Director:Cliff Bole
    Writers:Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz

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  20. The X-Files Season 11 Episode 9 - Nothing Lasts Forever
    6.6/10(2883 votes)

    #20 - Nothing Lasts Forever

    S11:E9

    While investigating human organ theft, Mulder and Scully uncover a mysterious cult consumed with macabre rituals.

    Director:James Wong
    Writer:Karen Nielsen

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  21. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 7 - Ghost in the Machine
    6.7/10(7577 votes)

    #21 - Ghost in the Machine

    S1:E7

    It's Halloween, and Mulder and Scully are investigating the strange death of a corporate executive in a sophisticated high-tech building.

    Director:Jerrold Freedman
    Writers:Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa

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  22. The X-Files Season 4 Episode 11 - El Mundo Gira
    6.7/10(4417 votes)

    #22 - El Mundo Gira

    S4:E11

    After a strange yellow rain kills a migrant girl, her family believes that a mythical creature el chupacabra was the cause and that it has manifested itself inside her fiancé's brother, who has since disappeared.

    Director:Tucker Gates
    Writer:John Shiban

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  23. The X-Files Season 8 Episode 9 - Salvage
    6.7/10(3045 votes)

    #23 - Salvage

    S8:E9

    A man whose blood is rapidly changing into metal alloy enacts revenge on those who caused his condition.

    Director:Rod Hardy
    Writer:Jeffrey Bell

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  24. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 3 - Dæmonicus
    6.7/10(31 votes)

    #24 - Dæmonicus

    S9:E3

    Doggett and Reyes investigate the murder of a couple in West Virginia that has all the signs of a satanic ritual killing. They link the murder to a doctor who is incarcerated in a mental institute, and Doggett becomes convinced that the doctor is orchestrating the crimes from within the hospital.

    Director:Frank Spotnitz
    Writer:Frank Spotnitz

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  25. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 6 - Trust No 1
    6.7/10(33 votes)

    #25 - Trust No 1

    S9:E6

    Scully is approached by a couple who claim their baby has the same abilities as William and have information about the super soldier program; however, they will only talk to Mulder, believing him the only person who can make the connections and uncover the truth. Scully is forced into an awkward situation when she has to decide whether to put Mulder's life in more danger even though she desperately wants to see him.

    Director:Tony Wharmby
    Writers:Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Teso Dos Bichos" is the worst rated episode of "The X-Files". It scored 5.9/10 based on 4652 votes. Directed by Kim Manners and written by John Shiban, it aired on 3/8/1996. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Fight Club".